As we approach this holiday season, we are gearing up for the 6th Annual Sudha Sale, to benefit Bread & Roses and The Redwoods on November 6-8 and again November 14-15 at The Corte Madera Town Center. Come join us for a special preview party Friday, November 6th from 5.30 pm to 8pm. Please mark your calendars for some early holiday shopping for friends and family.

What makes this year’s sale unique is that due to the challenging economic times I have made a concerted effort to bring extraordinary value in each product offering. Samples of collections carried in high end stores and museum shops are priced at wholesale or below! Many are from the private collection of The House of Pennathur and are on view for sale for the first time. Since most are one of a kind, come early to get the choice picks.

So many people are working to make this event possible. Gary Morgret will use his special visual talent to make the store beautiful for you. Some of you may remember that he volunteered to do the same thing, at The Embarcadero when I opened a similar benefit store for the Asian Art Museum in the early nineties. He has also now donated some fixtures and a cash register for the event! Barr Hibbs is working untiringly to move all these things to our store. Peter Merts, the acclaimed photographer will be on hand to photograph the evening.

Prices range from a few dollars to several hundred dollars for the one of a kind beautiful jewelry from Designs by Sudha. Silk and wool scarves are hand woven using indigenous hand looms with exquisite yarns. Jewelry once carried in the best museums and catalogs are for sale at a fraction of the price.

The best part of the sale is the personalized attention you will receive from the Board of Directors, staff and volunteers of these two fabulous organizations. When else can one hope to be waited on by such an illustrious group?

My Holiday collection is up online at NeimanMarcus.com. I have been doing a Christmas collection at Neiman’s for some 20 years, and every year feels like something new and exciting.

NeimanMarcus.com and The Horchow Collection offer a small online glimpse of the greater collection that is available in stores, more than 40 different items are for sale at the individual stores so be sure to head down to your local Neiman Marcus and check it out! (And don’t forget to drop by Bergdorf Goodman when you’re in Manhattan!)

Alan Nazareth

"Sudha Pennathur is the most outstanding, innovative and dynamic woman entrepreneur that I know. I first met her when I was Consul General of India in New York during the 1986 -89 period, when she came to invite to a show of her traditional Indian jewellery and gift items at the Saks Department Store on Fifth Avenue. Since then I have seen her steady progress to great heights in this highly competitive field. She has made a great contribution to the promotion and marketing of high quality traditional Indian jewellery and gift items in the US. India, particularly its artisans in Rajasthan and Tamilnadu, are deeply grateful and highly appreciative of this; so are the Indian NGOs which she has been generously supporting."

-Alan Nazareth served in India’s diplomatic and consular missions in Tokyo, Rangoon, Lima, London, Chicago and New York and as India’s High Commissioner to Ghana and Ambassador to Liberia, Upper Volta, Togo, Egypt, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador & Belize.